Portland: Guy Cosmo race report

Cosmo and Bach P-2 at Portland
(3 August 05)--Guy Cosmo and teammate Jamie Bach brought their
Sportsbook.com-sponsored Mazda-powered Courage home in second position in
the LMP2 class this weekend at Portland International Raceway during ...

Cosmo and Bach P-2 at Portland

(3 August 05)--Guy Cosmo and teammate Jamie Bach brought their
Sportsbook.com-sponsored Mazda-powered Courage home in second position in
the LMP2 class this weekend at Portland International Raceway during the
American Le Mans Series Grand Prix of Portland. The podium finish is the
second consecutive rostrum appearance for the American driving duo, and
has moved Cosmo and Bach back up in the championship standings as they
are now tied for second in the overall championship.

The race didn't go quite as planned, as the car developed an
overheating problem early on, forcing Cosmo to play it cool and back off
the pace in order to insure a points finish without damaging the
three-rotor Mazda powerplant.

"Given the situation, we adopted a strategy to try and eliminate
one of our pit stops, so we were saving fuel every chance we had --
coasting up to the braking zones, limiting periods of full throttle, and
just doing everything possible to keep the engine temps down and our fuel
mileage up," said Cosmo. "As a race car driver, it was a bit
frustrating, but it was what we had to do, and it worked because we
managed to keep the car running, get to the finish, and take home some
valuable championship points."

Cosmo is now tied for second position in the LMP2 overall championship
points with four rounds remaining in the 2005 American Le Mans Series
season.

Getting to the finish and scoring points on a track that Cosmo had never
raced on before wasn't the only reason he was happy after the
event, as he learned that the ACO and IMSA have made a slight rules
modification that should see the Mazda/Courage combination even more
competitive in the future.

"The car was better than it had been at Infineon, and now that the
ACO and IMSA have given us a larger air restrictor for our Mazda
three-rotor, we should be even better at Road America," said Cosmo.
"This program keeps improving, and while some days we have to
learn while we are racing, as we did here at Portland, I know we are just
going to keep getting better."

Cosmo will be racing next at Road America on the weekend of August 19-22,
as his Grand-Am Cup team, BGB Motorsports, will be sitting out the Trois
Rivièrs event in preparation for the EMCO Gears Classic event at the
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on August 27.